Crofting bill 'poorly conceived'

New legislation is being drawn up for crofting

A group consulted by government on the draft Crofting Reform Bill has called for it to be withdrawn.

Glenelg and Arnisdale Community Council in Ross-shire described it as "excessive" and "poorly conceived".

The Scottish Crofting Foundation has also said most of its 2,000 members rejected the bill and said it was too heavy on enforcement of regulation.

The Scottish government has published responses from 238 individuals and groups online.

These respondents had agreed to their comments being made public. In total, 422 written responses were received during public consultation on the proposed bill.

I will continue to work with everyone with an interest in building success for crofting Roseanna Cunningham Environment minister

Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said there was "widespread agreement" that if crofting as a way of life was to continue absenteeism, neglect and speculation on croft land would have to be tackled.

She added: "Building a sustainable future for crofting communities is enormously important to this government and action must be taken to safeguard crofting's future.

"In the coming weeks I will continue to work with everyone with an interest in building success for crofting to reach consensus on the best way forward to tackle the fundamental issues threatening this unique and valuable way of life."

In its response, Glenelg and Arnisdale Community Council also criticised the consultation process.

It wrote: "The consultation process has been in name only. No hard copies of the draft bill have been circulated locally.

"The lengthy consultation document is cloaked in legal jargon, available only online, and consultation meetings have been very few and far between."

In September, a requirement that new houses built on former croft land be used as main residences was dropped from the draft Crofting Reform Bill.

The Scottish government said the decision was taken because of the weight of opposition from crofters.

However, it said action was needed to keep land affordable to those who wanted to take up crofting.

Ms Cunningham said at the time to do nothing "was not an option".

Lives away

Absenteeism has been a long-running issue.

In 2002, almost 200 absentee crofters lost their tenancy of croft land in the Highlands and Islands.

Regulator the Crofters Commission tracked down the absentees, some as far afield as Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

At the time hundreds of people were on a waiting list, hoping to be given a croft so they could live their lives from the land.

The commission has powers to investigate absenteeism if a crofter lives away from his or her croft and is not playing an active role in the community.

There are 17,923 crofts entered on the Crofters Commission's register of crofts.

About 14,200 are tenanted and the remainder are owned.